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Happy Eid al-Fitr
Jun 15, 2018 12:01 PM
JHI wishes our many friends in the Muslim world a happy Eid al-Fitr. We hope you enjoy celebrating the spiritual, intellectual and human growth you and your families achieved during the month of Ramadan.We would also like to advise clients and friends who do not observe this holiday that, this year, the Eid holiday largely falls on a weekend in many jurisdictions (with certain exceptions such as, for example, public sector employees in Saudi Arabia, who will resume work on Sunday, June 24). Therefore, the ordinarily-expected office closures that customarily occur throughout the Middle East region during the holiday (particularly in the private sector), including JHI's Jeddah, Saudi Arabia office & other resources in the United Arab Emirates, should not cause a significant interruption of business activities this year.
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Happy Eid al-Fitr
Jun 23, 2017 11:40 AM
JHI wishes our many friends in the Muslim world a happy Eid al-Fitr. We hope you enjoy the celebration of the spiritual, intellectual and human growth you and your families achieved during the month of Ramadan.We would also like to advise clients and friends who do not observe this holiday to expect office closures throughout the Middle East region, including JHI resources in Saudi Arabia & the United Arab Emirates, during the holiday. -
Qatar's International Commercial Court
Aug 30, 2016 3:16 PM
As Co-Chairman of the New York County Lawyers' Association's (NYCLA) Foreign & International Law Committee, Mr. Huf enjoys the occassional pleasure of hosting some rather interesting guests.
Just this past March, the Foreign & International Law Committee welcomed the Honorable Gerald Lebovits, Justice of the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan and Adjunct Professor of Law at Columbia, Fordham and NYU. Justice Lebovits provided a presentation covering the Qatar International Court and the time he spent in Doha teaching local attorneys there.
JHI has briefly covered Qatar's Bifurcated Legal System in an earlier piece and we refer you to it for some of the bare bones basics.
Justice Lebovits, in addition to describing his teaching experience in Doha, discussed the history of Qatar's International Court (the Court) for hearing commercial disputes, the caliber of its personnel, its procedures and costs. He also discussed some of the decisions already rendered by the Court, where he participated as one of its distinguished Judges.
(Left to right: Clara Flebus, Co-Chair, NYCLA Foreign & International Law Committee; Hon. Justice Gerald Lebovits; and, Jason Huf)
Justice Lebovits pointed out, at length, what he viewed to be the efficiency of the Court relative to Arbitration facilities elsewhere in the Gulf region. The speed, cost and fairness of the proceedings made the Court, from his perspective, an ideal solution for Dispute Resolution and wondered aloud why parties did not avail themselves of the use of the Court more often in the dispute resolution clauses of their agreements.
Mr. Huf agrees that, on paper and based on performance thus far, the Court is an attractive facility. However, the Court was founded relatively recently (2009), and as an active international practitioner who focuses on the region, Mr. Huf made the point that attorneys might be more receptive to the idea of recommending the use of the Court to their clients after more data is at hand (that is to say, after the Court has adjudicated more disputes). Of course, with attorneys perhaps hesitating to suggest that their client be something of a new legal system's "guinea pig", it may take some time before such additional data is generated.
That said, you would be hard-pressed to find a lawyer in New York City who is as knowledgeable of the inner workings of the Court and the procedures it employs than Justice Lebovits. His entire presentation – including his positive view of the Court's cost and time-effectiveness – was well-informed and compelling.
JHI invites you to research the Qatar International Commercial Court and Dispute Resolution Centre and draw your own conclusions:
www.qicdrc.com.qa
After all, as very good lawyers, aren't we always in search of the next "better idea"? -
Eid al-Fitr, July 4 & Medina
Jul 5, 2016 2:41 PM
JHI wishes our many friends in the Muslim world a happy Eid al-Fitr. We hope you enjoy the celebration of the spiritual, intellectual and human growth you and your families achieved during the month of Ramadan, despite the challenges to peace and security during the Holy Month this year. We would also like to advise clients and friends who do not observe this holiday to expect office closures throughout the Middle East region during the holiday.JHI will continue its expansion in the region and hopes that, even as they mourn those lost this past week, the good people of Medina, Jeddah and elsewhere in the Kingdom celebrate God-given life and its highest pursuits.
In the United States, we celebrated the 240th anniversary of our Independence on July 4. These past several weeks have seen barbarity at its worst. With specific reference to the terrorist attack at Medina, we in the Land of Liberty, irrespective of faith, stand with and pray for the innocent victims of that atrocity. Everyone has a right to freedom from terror.
While the savage primitives of ISIS/IL are strongly suspected of coordinating the attack in Medina and other places throughout Saudi Arabia, no group as of the date of this writing has claimed responsibility and the motives of the suicide bomber in Medina are as yet unknown. It was nonetheless a murderous act of barbarity that the whole of the civilized world must reject. ANY "cause" served by the use of Terror as a tactic must, summarily, be deemed illegitimate.
Further, when terrorism is employed, the actors betray their so-called "cause" to be nothing more than a pretext for a war of conquest. This is the reality civilized people across the globe must face with the determination that any such enemy will be defeated and placed in history's rubbish pile, along with so many other would-be tyrants of the past. -
Ramadan Mubarak
Jun 6, 2016 11:28 AM
To all of our friends around the world who observe the Holy Month, we at JHI hope that you and your families enjoy a meaningful period of dedication to fasting, reflection and prayer during these historically challenging times. May your loved ones take this holiday as an opportunity grow closer to each other, your neighbors, the less fortunate and the whole of humanity.
We wish you good health in the year ahead. Ramadan Mubarak! -
April Showers Bring May Flowers
May 25, 2016 1:50 PM
By R. Jason Huf
Its been quite some time since JHI's last Note or Comment, but that doesn't mean that there hasn't been anything to write about. And, its certainly too much to write about all at once.
With Ramadan just around the corner, should the usual business cycle associated with the Holy Month and High Summer come about, I will make maximum use of the time and write more often:
April was a pretty busy month, inside the office and out. Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030" was unveiled by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on April 25. JHI will provide analysis of the KSA's plan for a "post-Oil" economy, and any changes to the laws of the Kingdom resulting therefrom. We will also continue to track legal developments elsewhere in the Gulf region.
Also, as UN Representative for an NGO, I enjoyed the opportunity of hearing United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speak about the UN's Sustainable Development Treaty, the Sustainable Development Goals, and what the private sector (including the Legal Community) can do to help achieve those goals. This was followed by attending several open forums at the UN, and hosting a talk on 'Conflict Minerals' with an expert on the subject.
I also moderated two very successful Continuing Legal Education panels, one on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the other an Ethics course on Attorney "Branding" for international practitioners.
Almost forgot! In March, I had the pleasure of hosting a New York State judge who discussed the Qatari Commercial Courts after returning from his experience teaching new, young Qatari lawyers in Doha.
More recently, after months of deliberations and conversations with colleagues and others I respect, I have come to a decision on JHI's future in the Middle East - and, beyond.
[ for some of the backstory, click here --->].
Further details concerning our expansion of capabilities and services, as well as the other topics outlined above, will be distributed in due course.
In the meantime, Happy Memorial Day -- enjoy the start of summer!
- Jason Huf
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
New York, NY -
Happy Eid al-Fitr
Jul 17, 2015 1:11 PM
JHI wishes our many friends in the Muslim world a happy Eid al-Fitr. We hope you enjoy the celebration of the spiritual, intellectual and human growth you and your families achieved during the month of Ramadan.We would also like to advise clients and friends who do not observe this holiday to expect office closures throughout the Middle East region during the holiday.
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Exploring the Boundaries of My Own Business
Jul 10, 2015 2:09 PM
By R. Jason Huf
When the Saudi government decided to ramp up the production of light, sweet crude oil and crash the price of it world-wide, the first thing most people in the United States (quite rightly) noticed was the sharp decline in the price of gasoline. It’s the best break working people in America have enjoyed in a long time, and has generated economic growth that no artificial government “stimulus” program can ever hope to match.
Middle East practitioners like myself, on the other hand, immediately understood two things: 1. the increase in production was designed to dampen the profitability of energy projects, particularly by oil & gas producers in the United States – which, in turn, helps to continue to make the maintenance of stability in Saudi Arabia a priority for Western countries and their oil-dependent economies; and, 2. it was a direct attack against the cohesiveness of the Kingdom’s arch-enemy, Iran, and some of its anti-Western allies such as Venezuela and, particularly, Russia (all three countries having economic models with price floors for oil that are unsustainable in the current environment).
Iran's desperate economic situation notwithstanding, they have lashed out and struck back on a variety of levels and are emboldened by recent victories in Yemen, Iraq and Vienna. Iran is increasingly aggressive in the region, and Saudi Arabia is feeling ever distant from the United States. As to the fear of a regional arms race stemming from the unabated existence of the Iranian nuclear arms program, such an arms race is already underway.
Keenly aware that the balance of power in the Middle East continues to swing in favor of Iran and that the United States is decreasingly interested in serving as the region's chief guarantor of security in the region, the Arab states may feel that they are in a desperate situation themselves. Let us not forget, that the despicable and barbaric terrorist organization ISIS/ ISIL was originally cobbled together with the support of Turkey and Qatar to serve as a hyper-radicalized Sunni buffer against encroaching Shia (Iranian) power. The Saudi move to create an oil supply glut and the joint Saudi/ Egyptian military operations against Iranian clients in Yemen seem, thus far, insufficient to halt Iranian momentum.
If the present trend continues, a direct region-wide conflict between Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, et al vs. Iran and Syria seems more likely, not less.
We live in an era when asymmetrical warefare that utilizes non-uniformed combatants targeting civilians to engender fear and instability so as to achieve a political or otherwise socially relevant end (e.g., "terrorism") has become a regular feature, turning cities well behind the lines of a given conflict into battlefields themselves. What do you do when you are a business that has invested in a region wherein the situation has become so uncertain?
Well, that depends on the industry you are in, how much risk you (and your insurance providers) are willing to absorb, and what kind of talent you think you can attract to work in such an environment.
As for myself, I remain committed to my relationship with Jeddah. The Jeddah office consists of local personnel, I have spent years developing my practice, and I have never been one to simply throw away the fruits of my own hard work. At present, my inclination is to stay the course.
In fact, having considered this contingency for some time, I am currently leaning toward expansion, rather than withdrawal. I feel it may soon become time to further live up to my firm's catch phrase - and, follow my natural instincts - and explore.Whereas some firms may be examining their options on executing an exit strategy, I am exploring the possibility of expanding into new jurisdictions and expanding the range of assistance I can provide to Western companies that remain in the region.
As an attorney, your practice is client-driven. Some companies will stay, some will leave and new businesses will enter one or more Gulf Cooperation Council markets. There will continue to be a need for Western legal expertise working hand-in-hand with local practitioners throughout the region.
Perhaps more fundamentally, I am proud of the work I have done over the years. From assisting with Shari-ah-compliant finance to education reform, I have been a small piece of a small piece in the jigsaw puzzle of helping to foster an environment wherein one may someday see a broad-based, self-sustaining middle class in the Middle East.
This sense of accomplishment will be foremost on my mind as I look toward Exploring the Boundaries of My Own Business...
– Jason Huf
Friday, July 10, 2015
New York, NY -
Ramadan Mubarak
Jun 18, 2015 11:55 AM
To all of our friends around the world who observe the Holy Month, we at JHI hope that you and your families enjoy, and gain real value from, the meaningful aspects of an entire month dedicated to fasting, reflection and prayer - especially during these somewhat unsettled times. May your loved ones take this holiday as an opportunity grow closer to each other, and humanity generally. We wish you good health in the year ahead.
Ramadan Mubarak! -
Happy Eid al-Fitr
Jul 28, 2014 2:48 PM
JHI wishes our many friends in the Muslim world a happy Eid al-Fitr. We would also like to advise clients and friends who do not observe this holiday to expect delays in certain services, and possible disruptions of projected time frames, due to office closures throughout the Middle East region during the holiday. -
Its Fracking Summertime
Jul 9, 2014 3:37 PM
Between the July 4 weekend and other summer holidays, high summer in the Middle East, the holy month of Ramadan, and some sort of soccer tournament, we find ourselves in the unusual position of having a little free time here at JHI.As such, watch THIS SPACE: In the coming weeks, JHI will post a brief article right here in our Notes & Comments section on Hydraulic Fracturing (colloquially referred to as “Fracking”).
Following Labor Day, JHI will publish a brief note on contracting with parties in Middle Eastern jurisdictions (in particular, Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates(UAE)); and, in a subsequent writing, JHI will share some thoughts on Arbitration Clauses when doing business internationally.
And, while there tends not to be many developments in the law anywhere in world during these summer months, JHI will continue to keep our eyes peeling concerning such developments as and when they affect Marcellus Shale Natural Gas, Charter Schools, Municipalities, Middle Eastern jurisdictions (particularly Gulf Cooperation Council jurisdictions), the law of Contracts, the laws of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the UAE (Abu Dhabi and Dubai) and the KSA, and business law generally.In the meantime, we would just like to wish all concerned a safe and happy summertime! -
Ramadan Mubarak
Jun 27, 2014 11:50 AM
To all of our friends around the world who observe the Holy Month, we at JHI hope that you and your families enjoy and gain value from the meaningful aspects of an entire month dedicated to prayer and fasting. May your loved ones grow closer to each other, and humanity generally, during this time. We wish you good health in the year ahead.Ramadan Mubarak!
- Jason Huf -
Mr. Huf Appointed Co-Chairman of Foreign & International Law Committee
Jun 5, 2014 12:33 PM
JHI is pleased to announce that the Firm's Founder and Principal has been awarded the honor of serving as Co-Chairman of the New York County Lawyers' Association's (NYCLA) Foreign & International Law Committee, effective June 1, 2014."This is an exciting time for the Foreign & International Law Committee, and NYCLA generally. Jay (Safer) and Jacqueline (Wolff) have done a terrific job as Co-Chairs of the Committee over the last several years, and we have some pretty big shoes to fill. It is an honor to follow them, and I will do my level best."Continuing the tradition of hosting excellent guest speakers, and working with NYCLA to explore the offering of CLE programs designed for international practitioners, will be at the top of Mr. Huf's agenda.Mr. Huf assumes the Co-Chairmanship of NYCLA's Foreign & International Law Committee with his distinguished colleague, Ms. Clara Flebus. They will serve together for the 2014-17 term. -
There's More to Doha than Soccer
Feb 26, 2014 1:14 PM
Stories concerning the 2022 World Cup tournament seem to have taken all the oxygen out of news and information about Qatar. True, Doha is scheduled to be the first Arab state to host the world's largest soccer tournament, and this promises to generate something of an increase to the country's construction boom. But, there's more to this small, wealthy Gulf state than sports.Businesses, whether they be engineering firms, banks, energy companies, franchisors, purveyors of luxury items or manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods, might be interested to know that Qatar is the world's third largest producer of natural gas and has a legal and regulatory enviroment wherein compliance is relatively inexpensive. With the highest GDP per capita in the world, Qatar's consumer base is awash in disposable wealth and opportunities abound.As a law firm, JHI takes particular notice of Qatar's bifurcated legal system. The civil courts there are completely separate from and independent of the Shari'ah courts, and the rest of the government generally. These separate courts that deal with matters relating to foreign commercial interests provide a level of transparancy and predictability for which Gulf-Arab jurisdictions, fairly or unfairly, do not always have a reputation. This, in turn, provides an additional layer of security to companies that expand into, or otherwise invest in, Qatar.Conduct your own economic survey and have accounting crunch the numbers and provide you with the tax implications of such a venture. Then, if satisfied (or, excited), contact an experienced law firm and ask them to provide you with a legal and regulatory survey.Take a look at Doha beyond the glamour of sports and see if you would like to Explore the Boundaries of Your Business.